Pop Pop Pop
by RedQuarter
Summary: He Shouldn't be shocked at all, but here he is, in the Tower of London, with Chinboy and Grandad, completely flabbergasted at the site of her./ Or Ten recognizes Clara and doesn't need to ask questions-introspection set during the Day of the Doctor.


In hindsight, he should've noticed when his future self called her name through the time vortex. _Clara. Not Oswin. Not Oswald. Not Oswin Oswald, but Clara, crystal clear Clara. _He didn't though, he didn't notice until she popped (_She always pops, she's always popping, always for him.) _into the tower. She looked the same, big brown eyes glistening with wit and adventure, and a small mouthed smile framed by homely dimples. He should've noticed. She was always the same.

He can't remember when he first met her, or if there ever was a first time. He just knows that she's always been there, always chasing and playing and saving (_Pop pop pop.)._He can't recall most of what she's done for him- but there's always an image buried away in the back of his mind of a doe eyed girl and _it's smaller on the outside._There's different versions of it of course- gogo boots and corsets, hoop skirts and leather boots. It's always her though, clear as day. The same girl- all smiles and always impossible. He shouldn't be as surprised as he is- he always sees her- and every face always sees her face. He shouldn't be shocked at all, but here he is, in the Tower of London, with Chin Boy and Grandad, completely flabbergasted at the site of her. And he can tell that his regeneration knows what he's thinking- how could he not they're the same person after all- but he doesn't acknowledge it and suddenly it makes sense. _There's something different about this one._

He wants to ask- wants so badly to know. Curiosity has always been his greatest weakness- but there isn't time. Not at first. Suddenly they're all dashing about- _the doctor and the doctor and not the doctor all come to save the day. _They're in the Tardis and fighting zygotes, and there's just no time. Clara _(Oswin Oswald)_, though, is always making time and breaking time- and as it turns out he didn't even need to ask.

He gets his answer like he gets everything from her- she just pops. They're about to decimate gallifrey- _thousands of flames, millions of deaths. _There's a box in the middle of the time lords and a button, shiny and big. And off to the side of the room is Clara Oswin Oswald- until she's not, because then she's talking. She may not move but her voice travels the galaxy, reverberating off the stars and bouncing off of all his ears ( _I never pictured you doing it.). _She asks why he's the doctor, and she's crying, _he made her cry. _Never cruel, never cowardly he tells her as she tells him everything. The way she talks, she knows him- she trusts him, loves him, believes in him. And that's the key. The other hers were just serving their purpose- doing their job._ Saving the Doctor. _They were hollow though, empty. He was just a doctor to them- not a promise. This one, he can tell, this one's the original.

He's seen echoes, shadows of her. They were like bubble wrap- a thousand little bubbles wrapped around a precious item to protect it, pop pop popping with every jostle, every force, but it never ends- they're never all gone they're never all popped no matter how hard you try. This ones not a bubble- she's the wrap. And in that instance he can see her- and she's wrapped around his regenerated form and he loves her. The way captain chinny looks at her- it's how he looked at Rose. _Like all of time and space couldn't possibly compare. _And Wonderchin listens to her- and he understand that's she's a promise to him to- all the shreds of her wondering around, all for him, all a promise. She promised to protect him-even from himself, even if she has to keep popping. That's why chinboy does it too- not to ease his guilt (_because he's the man who forgets not the one who regrets) _but for the girl who promised. Sandshoes doesn't have to ask about that either, but he wouldn't if he had to.

He never does bring it up to his future self once it's all over (_well, postponed). _He merely kisses her on the hand and smiles- _good to know my future is in good hands, keep a hold on it Clara. _And then he's off again- because he doesn't have to ask. He'll know eventually anyways. He just can't bare the thought of popping this one too- _keep a hold on it Clara, and keep a hold on yourself too. _


End file.
